Michigan father angry after student cut his daughter’s hair, only for library teacher to cut rest

A 7-year-old Michigan girl has been pulled from her elementary school after a student cut some of her hair without permission, only for a teacher to cut the rest off days later in a separate incident. 

Jurnee Hoffmeyer, who is biracial, was riding the bus March 24 when a classmate with scissors, who is white, cut most of her hair on one side of her head, she claimed to her father.

Jimmy Hoffmeyer complained to the principal of Ganiard Elementary in Mount Pleasant.

He learned that the girl who cut his daughter’s hair took a pair of scissors from the desk of a teacher. The school planned to talk to the offender’s parents about the incident.

Jurnee Hoffmeyer, 7, is seen after both a student and a teacher at her school cut her hair

It’s not clear if there had been any previous incidents between Jurnee and the girl who cut her hair. 

‘I chalked it up because it was a child and you’re not thinking of any serious consequences having to do with a kid,’ Hoffmeyer said to WJRT

Hoffmeyer also took his daughter to a salon that day for asymmetrical styling, so that the amateur haircut given by Jurnee’s classmate wasn’t as noticeable. 

But on March 26, Jurnee arrived home from school crying with another haircut,. This time, the school’s library teacher, who is also white, had cut it, according to Hoffmeyer. 

‘She (Jurnee) was afraid of getting in trouble for getting her hair cut,’ Hoffmeyer said to the Associated Press.

Jurnee Hoffmeyer, who is biracial, is pictured before the unapproved haircuts took place

Jurnee Hoffmeyer, who is biracial, is pictured before the unapproved haircuts took place 

‘I asked what happened and said ‘I thought I told you no child should ever cut your hair.’ She said ‘But dad, it was the teacher.’ The teacher cut her hair to even it out.’

Hoffmeyer followed up with the school and was told the library teacher wouldn’t receive any discipline more than a note in her work file, at most.

Hoffmeyer claimed the principal tried to get the incident to disappear without issuing more serious discipline. 

‘She kept asking me what she could do to make it go away,’ Hoffmeyer said of the school’s principal.

Jimmy Hoffmeyer took to Facebook to share news of the incident involving his daughter

Jimmy Hoffmeyer took to Facebook to share news of the incident involving his daughter

The district superintendent called Hoffmeyer a week later offering to mail out apology cards, a call he angrily hung up on. 

Meanwhile, the library teacher has not been publicly identified.

Hoffmeyer ultimately filed a report with local police, although they have not yet followed up on his complaint.

Hoffmeyer is biracial, as are his three daughters, while his wife, Christie, is white.

Pictured: Father Jimmy Hoffmeyer

Pictured: Jimmy with wife Christie Hoffmeyer

Jimmy Hoffmeyer is biracial, as as his three daughters, while his wife Christie is white

A school board meeting about the incident was held Monday night, though it’s unclear if there was any resolution to the issue.

‘Just got done with the school board meeting … I must say I couldn’t be more proud and thankful of all the love and support my family received from our community and others from all around the world,’ Christie Hoffmeyer posted on Facebook.

During the school board meeting, one person noted the seriousness of cutting the hair of a Black or biracial child. 

‘I feel like you don’t quite understand the impact of hair on the Black community or how serious this matter actually goes,’ one person said during the board meeting, according to UpNorthLive.

‘If you could take a diversity training I feel like that would be very helpful, especially for understanding the context of this and why people are so upset about it.’

The president of the school board, however, suggests that some of the reports regarding the haircutting incidents are inaccurate, without saying how. 

‘I’m not one to try to make things about race,’ Jimmy Hoffmeyer said to the Associated Press. ‘I’ve pretty much grown up with only white people, myself.’

Hoffmeyer has since moved his daughter from one school to another and is considering moving her to a private school. 

The school has yet to publicly apologize or comment on the incident. The National Parents Union is now advocating on behalf of the Hoffmeyer family.

‘I would like them to own up to their responsibilities,’ Hoffmeyer said to WJRT. ‘Like, we’ve been asking as a public apology for the most part to let Jurnee know that yes they acknowledge that it was wrong and that it should have never been done and that she should never have been through something like this.’

The Crown Act was reintroduced in Michigan in February, which would make it illegal to discriminate based on hair texture or styles such as braids, locks, and twists. 

Pictured: Ganiard Elementary School, where Jurnee attended school. She has since been put in another school and her parents are awaiting a public apology from the school

Pictured: Ganiard Elementary School, where Jurnee attended school. She has since been put in another school and her parents are awaiting a public apology from the school